AP jettisons ‘illegal immigrant’

The Associated Press Stylebook, long a bible for news and copy editors across America, is dropping the phrase “illegal immigrants.”

Such changes of phraseology become signs of the times, such as when The New York Times started using the phrase “Ms.” in reference to women. The same holds true with team titles — Universities and colleges have jettisoned Native-American references, and the Washington Redskins face pressure to do so — and such geographic names as “Squaw Peak” are being relegated to the dustbin of history.

“The Stylebook no longer sanctions the term ‘illegal immigrant’ or use of ‘illegal’ to describe a person. Instead, it tells users that ‘illegal’ should describe only an action, such as living in or immigrating to a country illegally.”

She wrote that the new edition of the Stylebook will have this entry:

illegal immigration Entering or residing in a country in violation of civil or criminal law. Except in direct quotes essential to the story, use illegal only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant. Acceptable variations include living in or entering a country illegally or without legal permission.

Except in direct quotations, do not use the terms illegal alien, an illegal, illegals or undocumented.

Do not describe people as violating immigration laws without attribution.

Specify wherever possible how someone entered the country illegally and from where. Crossed the border? Overstayed a visa? What nationality?

People who were brought into the country as children should not be described as having immigrated illegally. For people granted a temporary right to remain in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, use temporary resident status, with details on the program lower in the story.

Margaret Sullivan, public editor of The New York Times, tweeted late Tuesday: “On illegal immigration, I’m told that @nytimes is also working on revisions to its usage guidelines to ‘provide more nuance and options’.”

Now, if only Stylebook standards and New York Times nuance could be applied to the speech of Alaska’s Republican Congressman Don Young, notorious for his “wetbacks” reference in a Ketchikan public radio interview last week.